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END IN SIGHT — HOUSE SET TO PASS DEFENSE APPROPRIATIONS TODAY: The House is expected to pass its fiscal 2015 defense appropriations bill today after working through more than 70 amendments over the past two days. Members finished up work on the bill just after 11 last night following roll-call votes on 10 amendments.

With floor debate taking place under a modified open rule, the bill ran the gamut on contentious issues, including ones preventing U.S. combat operations in Iraq, ending the 2002 Authorization for the Use of Military Force and curbing NSA spying powers.

In one of the biggest funding fights, the House blocked the retirement of the A-10 fleet. The 300-to-114 vote bucked the chairman and ranking member on the Defense Appropriations panel, just as rank-and-file lawmakers did in the House Armed Services Committee. Last night’s vote was the clearest sign yet that Congress will not allow the Air Force to retire the Warthog in 2015.

OTHER NOTABLE AMENDMENT VOTES:

— Iraq: The House rejected, 165 to 250, an amendment from Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) that would have prohibited funds for U.S. combat operations in Iraq.

— AUMF: The House also rejected two more amendments from Lee: one to prevent funds for operations tied to the 2002 Iraq AUMF, 182 to 231, and the other to effectively end the 2001 AUMF at the end of this year, 157 to 260.

— NSA: The House approved an amendment from Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) 293 to 123 to prevent the intelligence community from requiring so-called “backdoors” built into technology for surveillance.

— Gitmo: The House approved, 230 to 184, an amendment from Rep. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) that would prohibit Guantanamo Bay prisoner transfers to any country for one year.

TOP STORY — OBAMA TO SEND UP TO 300 MILITARY ADVISERS TO IRAQ, via POLITICO’S Edward-Isaac Dovere and Josh Gerstein: “President Barack Obama announced Thursday that he’s sending up to 300 American military advisers to Iraq in response to Islamic militants threatening the government in Baghdad.

“The additional U.S. advisers are a modest step that’s unlikely to have a dramatic impact on the chaotic situation in Iraq unless the president decides to actually give the go-ahead for airstrikes… Officials said the first batch of the new wave of U.S. advisers to Iraq would be limited in number — only a few groups of about a dozen each.” http://politi.co/1uHC1Ci

Republicans say too little, too late: Obama’s announcement did not impress Republican hawks clamoring for the administration to do more in Iraq, such as launching airstrikes. House Armed Services Chairman Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) said Obama’s “half-step” didn’t cut it. “I want to urge the president — for once — to make up his mind and commit to a comprehensive course of action in the region,” McKeon said in a statement.

“The president’s willingness to send U.S. military advisers to Iraqis a positive step, but more needs to be done,” said Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). “We must act now to help Iraqis arrest their country’s descent into chaos, or the current crisis may soon spiral further out of control.”

Democrats, meanwhile, are supporting Obama: “Democrats from a broad ideological spectrum backed Obama’s decision to send 300 military advisers to Iraq to prevent the march of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant into Baghdad,” report POLITICO’s Burgess Everett and Jeremy Herb. “Though Democrats have deep-seated regrets over the 2003 decision to go to war with Iraq — a vote that still divides the party — some of them placed their trust in the president after his speech on Thursday.” http://politi.co/1uHDats

BUT THE LATEST STEPS WON’T SPARK A QUICK FIX, via POLITICO’s Philip Ewing: “The military moves on Iraq announced Thursday by President Barack Obama are aimed at getting a coherent picture of what’s happening there, officials said — not to quickly turn the tide against the Islamic extremists who have swept across the country.

“The troops’ missions will be very much like the training and advising roles undertaken in more than 70 countries around the world, often by the Army’s Special Forces units, better known as the Green Berets.” http://politi.co/1uHEtsx

HAPPY FRIDAY AND WELCOME TO MORNING DEFENSE, where we have a quick programming note: Jeremy will have the reins here at Morning D on Monday and Tuesday while Austin’s in Oregon for a wedding. Austin will be back in your inboxes bright and early on Wednesday. Email us at jherb@politico.com and awright@politico.com, and follow us on Twitter @jeremyherb, @abwrig and @morningdefense

HAGEL’S DAY: Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is welcoming New Zealand Prime Minister John Key to the Pentagon at 8:30 a.m.

HOUSE VA COMMITTEE TAKING AIM AT BONUSES: The House Veterans’ Affairs Committee is holding a hearing at 9:30 a.m. to investigate the VA system of awarding bonuses. The VA’s performance bonuses have come under scrutiny as one of the factors that prompted officials at VA medical facilities to manipulate the wait times for veterans’ appointments.

McCARTHY, SCALISE PREVAIL IN HOUSE GOP LEADERSHIP ELECTIONS: Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California won his election yesterday to become the next House majority leader, replacing Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia, who lost his GOP primary election. And Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana won his election to succeed McCarthy as majority whip. What’s it all mean for the defense establishment? One defense lobbyist tells us it’s a net loss, since Cantor was a major ally to the industry. But the lobbyist also notes that senior leaders in Congress have little involvement in funding decisions for weapons programs and are normally only relevant when it comes to negotiating the overall size of the Pentagon budget.

IS OBAMA PLANNING TO SIGN LANDMINE BAN TREATY? That’s what McKeon and Rep. Randy Forbes (R-Va.) alleged last night. The Republicans said they learned that the president’s signing of the Ottawa Treaty to ban anti-personnel landmines was imminent, which they warned could have dire consequences in the DMZ in Korea. A National Security Council spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment.

Forbes took a pre-emptive strike against the treaty last night, with the House passing his amendment to the defense appropriations bill that would prevent the use of funds to implement the treaty.

UCLASS HEARING POSTPONED: The House Armed Services Seapower Subcommittee’s plans to dive into the Navy’s efforts to develop a carrier-based drone were thwarted due to the combination of yesterday’s GOP leadership elections and a round of House votes, according to a committee aide. The hearing has not yet been rescheduled.

FROM THE INBOX — DEBATING UCLASS: One reader emails us about the Navy’s UCLASS efforts, inresponse to a push by Forbes to overhaul the Unmanned Carrier-Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike program. Forbes says he wants the Navy to develop a higher-end drone that could fight in contested airspace rather than one that mainly does surveillance. The reader says that might not be such a good idea.

“At the present state of technology, I have no confidence that a remotely piloted aircraft could successfully penetrate defended airspace, and operate with the flexibility and situational awareness of a piloted aircraft,” the reader says. “If the airspace is too heavily defended to risk piloted planes, use cruise missiles or other stand-off weapons. I could be persuaded, because it’s clearly a complex issue, but my gut says the Navy's original UCLASS concept is correct. The congressional types who favor a more capable drone may be a bit tech-obsessed.”

MAKING MOVES — RAYTHEON VP JUMPS TO LOCKHEED: John Rood is joining Lockheed Martin as vice president for domestic business development and operations, succeeding John Ward, who’s retiring. Rood comes to Lockheed from Raytheon, where he was vice president for U.S. business development. (Hat tip: Washington Business Journal)

SPEED READ

—The CIA began developing in 2005 a custom-made Osama bin Laden action figure — designed by a former Hasbro executive — that would frighten children and their parents into shunning the late Al-Qaeda leader. The Washington Post: http://wapo.st/1iKxJof

— Political leaders in Iraq seek a more acceptable alternative to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki who can provide concessions to the country’s Sunni and Kurdish minorities, appeal to the Shiite majority and garner support from the U.S. government. The New York Times: http://nyti.ms/1lJPggh

— The Pentagon ups funding for intelligence programs and military operations in Africa as it shifts focus on its counterterrorism mission from conflicts in the Middle East to those in Africa. Defense News: http://goo.gl/cfnxOn

— New research confirms that troops consume more alcohol after deployment but that the number of alcohol abusers drops significantly among those who have killed in combat. Air Force Times: http://goo.gl/DEC0Uz

— Defense Department scientists use forensic tools to identify the remains of 17 service members whose C-124 Globemaster aircraft crashed in Alaska on Nov. 22, 1952. Stars and Stripes: http://1.usa.gov/1idnH4u

— The U.S. government cancels a planned military exercise in Uganda and imposes penalties on the African nation in retaliation for its strict laws against homosexuality. Reuters: http://reut.rs/1pjBNQd

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